1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic circuits and, more specifically, to a low inductance termination for an electronic component.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical printed circuit boards include an electrically insulating substrate on which a pattern of electroconductive tracks is provided. A number of these tracks terminate at a contact face situated on the surface of the printed circuit board. Electric components, such as resistors and capacitors, are secured to such contact faces by means of their terminals. Such an electric component may consist of a pair of electroconductive wires that are connected to the contact faces by being soldered thereto.
Such components may take the form of leaded components or of leadless, surface-mountable components (SMD components). When leaded components are used, the leads are customarily passed through the printed circuit board and subsequently secured to one or more contact faces of the printed circuit board by means of a soldered joint. SMD components are often glued to a printed circuit board and then the connection faces of the components are electrically connected to the contact faces of the printed circuit board through wave-soldering.
Typical capacitors that are surface mounted to a circuit board include two wire leads that extend from the capacitor to the contacts on the circuit board. These leads form a current path that adds inductance to the circuit. While the inductance added by a single capacitor might be relatively small, the net impedance and resulting voltage transients in high frequency, high current, switched-mode power conversion applications is significant and can seriously degrade the performance of the overall circuit on the circuit board. Similarly, other electronic components can add inductance as a result of the current paths created by the leads used to connect them to a circuit board.
Therefore, there is a need for a low inductance termination for electronic components, such as capacitors.